Substitutiary Locomotion It Must Be
by ASianSuccessor2012
Summary: The last thing Carrie Rawlins and her two brothers expected was stumbling upon an enchanting woman with an enchanted plan. Throughout their grand search of Substitutiary Locomotion, Miss Price believes that when it comes to saving England and their lives,"Only one precise solution is the key," but Carrie believes it's much, much more than that. Character Study in Carrie's POV


_**Summary: After being evacuated from the dangers of war-ridden London, stumbling upon an enchanting woman with an enchanted plan was the last thing Carrie Rawlins and her two brothers expected. Throughout their journey upon the traveling bed, Miss Price believes that when it comes to saving England,**_ _ ** _ **"Only one precise solution is the key; substitutiary locomotion it must be!"**_ Or does she believe there's something much more than that? **_

_**Rating:**_ _ **T for some mild references  
**_

 _ **Pairing:**_ _ **Eglantine Price & Emelius Browne(hints here and there)  
**_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** ** _I own absolutely nothing (but the story). All rights belong to Disney and their creative minds._**

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _ **Hello everyone! Although this isn't my first time formulating a "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" fanfiction, this is my first shot at writing a fanfiction in a character's point of view, and much to my delight, this story all throughout will be written in Carrie's POV. Not only is she my favorite children within the Rawlins; she is also one of my most favorite characters in the movie next to Miss Eglantine Price, of course. Many thanks to one of my friends, who is an avid fan of this movie, who suggested this prompt. This story begins from when they leave the Isle of Naboombu, centered on Miss Price's first attempts on Substitutiary Locomotion as well as filling in some of the "missing scenes" between transitions in the movie. We thought it would be pretty cool to see what Carrie's been thinking as well as what everyone was up to, kind of like a little character study. For now, I hope you enjoy this story and please remember to leave me a review or PM after reading!**_

 _ **Cheers!**_

 _ **~ASianSuccessor2012**_

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 **1.) All the Way Home Again**

 _Carrie's POV_

"At last, the magic words..." our spirited guardian, Miss Price, triumphantly proclaimed, holding the shiny, emerald-green pendant with the biggest grin plain for all of us to see, reciting them casually, "Treguna mekoides trecorum satis dee."

Blimey! All that Latin-like magic inscribed on that thing...five mystic words, she said? That's a whole ruddy lot of it! I can't imagine anyone memomrizing _those_ kinds of words. Maybe that's why it's been stuck to the star all this time, so that old wizard would remember it. I'm just relieved that Miss Price won't have to worry about jotting it down on her notebook anytime soon. Besides, she's already excited enough that we managed to get that valuable object in our hands...or should I say, that _Mr. Browne_ got it in our hands. We really couldn't have done it without him, even if it meant having to scramble through a stampede of animals of all shapes and sizes trampling all over him. It looks like this little journey was worth it after all.

"I'll keep it. Women always lose things," Mr. Browne stated nonchalantly, pulling the star from Miss Price's grasp without noticing her glare... _that_ signature glare only done in that "Miss Price" kind of fashion whenever someone contradicts her or says something that makes her system tick. Widened eyes, pursed lips tensed up and all. For the time Paul, Charlie and myself stayed with her, we knew that look almost all too well. And with that look, _anything_ , I mean _anything_ can happen. This might sound a tad bit crazy but maybe even I know what Miss Price is thinking. She isn't just thinking of a rebuttal of sorts, she's thinking of-

 _GRAHHHH! RRRRAHHHH!_

GASP! There's only one creature on the Island of Naboombu who'd make a sound like that...THE KING! HE'S FOUND US OUT! As we see the outraged King Leonidas roaring in rage, racing closer and closer to the bed by the minute, my brothers and I exchange looks of fear, simultaneously turning to Miss Price and Mr. Browne, hoping that they'd come up with something to get us out of there _AND_ fast or else, this king could not only snatch that star away from us but even eat us... _alive!_ He is a lion after all, isn't he?

"Quick Paul, the knob!" Miss Price hollered calmly to my youngest brother though the traces of fear and worry were evident on her face.

OF COURSE! Thank goodness Paul had the knob! We'd get out of there in no time. That way, the king would _never_ catch us. Even if he tried to send out a wild search party, we'd leave no traces whatsoever. After all, before his eyes, we'd disappear into thin air! Not everyone could say that everyday...well, maybe except for the five of us with a magic bed in possession. Meanwhile, Paul frantically reached into Miss Price's purse to fetch the knob, but to no avail...

"It's stuck!" he exclaimed, turning to Miss Price in defeat, with a hint of pleading eyes for help, still struggling to reach the bedknob. If no one came up with anything, _anything at all,_ we would be done for in a minute! And we w _ere_ _this close_ to saving England...now, how on earth could we manage saving England if we couldn't even manage saving ourselves in the first place?

"I suppose I should do something!" Miss Price said in still a calm yet frantic manner, pulling out her notebook. Then and only then, I knew that we were definitely getting out of here alive! Thank Heavens for _that!_

"Please do. And quick!" Mr. Browne chimed in, his eyes transfixed on the closely impending predator.

As Miss Price swiftly raised her arm, fingers pointed straight at the king staring fiercely into his eyes, we all saw what was coming next. And right at that moment, coincidentally, Paul managed to reach for the bedknob just in the nick of time too. Oh how that tables have turned!

" _Filigree apogee pedigree perigee!"_

Alakazam! Just like that, what once was a lion king transformed into a _rabbit_ king before our very eyes, shrunken to the point that he fit within his crown and still retaining his lion's tail. Hah! There was no way he was getting us now! Not in _that_ state, he wasn't. If there's anyone with the quickest instinct among us five, I'd hand it to Miss Price in a heartbeat. Sure she never wanted to make a spectacle of herself with her magical abilities but at least she's been armed with a couple of useful spells to spare, thankfully, to save our lives. Even that sort of magic, as shady as some people may perceive it, could be used for good purposes after all. And after all, that's what Miss Price's sole intention was to begin with. The way I see it, she's marvelous, and I never really realized it until now.

"Oh bother!" Miss Price sighed slightly frustrated as she lowered her hand, "I do hate shoddy work!"

With that, the now rabbit-king hopped and scampered away, his face in mere confusion, stars sparkling about him. I bet he didn't see _that_ coming!

"Phew, that was a close one!" Charlie exclaimed, "We could've been gobbled up!"

"Well, at least we're safe now, aren't we?" the ever-so optimistic Mr. Browne perked up with a sigh of relief, "And it's all thanks to Miss Price over here who saved this bed from becoming a lion's den all in itself."

Paul, Charlie and I couldn't help but laugh at that remark. Oh, Mr. Browne. He and his sense of humor. It's like he always knows _just_ what to say. I also couldn't help noticing a smirk with a tinge of a smile forming on Miss Price's face although she's clearly covering it up with a facade of a shaking head. Wait a minute? Is she blushing? Never really got that from her before... _her_ of all people! Ah well, I guess that's beside the point.

"The knob, Paul," she then stated the way she always did. Now that Paul had the knob in his grasp, he had no trouble taking us back home.

"Bed, take us home," he said confidently, quarter-turning the knob to the left like always, tapping it thrice with its mystical tones resounding as glitters began to appear and the bed began to shake rapidly as the lights appeared around the bed. All three of us children were slowly grinning, eagerly awaiting the exhilarating speed and wind-swept thrill of the ride, holding tight to the golden railings, Miss Price sitting calmly on her left spot, and of course, Mr. Browne, anxious as always, his eyes widening in suspense, dreading its swiftness as well as the nauseous effect it always seemed to have on him. That look in itself couldn't help but make Miss Price laugh even just a little bit.

"Mr. Browne, you better hold on tight. I'm still quite unsure of the behavior of this bed..." Miss Price taunted Mr. Browne teasingly with a grin, slightly chuckling, giving her professor a playful nudge, "Considering _you're_ on it."

Mr. Browne simply nodded, clinging onto the golden railings behind him as tightly as he could as the bed began quaking faster and faster by the second. Something told me he was distracted and he didn't seem to pay the slightest attention to what Miss Price just said. I, for one, just wanted to laugh. No one's ever really told me about these things about what "mums and dads" do. Not even Aunt Bessie or anyone we knew, really. One night when Aunt Bessie was working late and out of the house, before Charlie and I drifted off to sleep and Paul was long gone off to dreamland, we listened to the wireless in the living room to lull us to sleep and plain and simply, it told us things and we heard them. And most of these things, Aunt Bessie wouldn't want us to hear. Not yet. Not for our young and supposedly innocent ears, or so she thought. Thank goodness Paul didn't hear any of this or his innocence would be tarnished! Maybe even right now, I'm glad that Miss Price didn't see my face and Charlie's because she probably wouldn't want us to know any of these things either. Not like she'd be surprised if Charlie knew any of this to begin with. At least she was kidding poor Mr. Browne. It's a shame he didn't pick up the joke quite easily since all he is right now is distracted by his impending fear of heights and light speed.

With that, the colorful spectrum of lights and glitters whisked us all into thin air and the bed travelled as fast as it could, soaring above the atmosphere of London, the city, the sights, _everything,_ reflecting every spectrum thrown at our sight. Poor Mr. Browne. He's still missing out on more than he can imagine, shutting his eyes tight like that as if something was about to strike him. Instead of letting out a single squeal or whimper, he couldn't help himself but to subconsciously grab hold of Miss Price's right hand, squeezing it tightly as if his life depended on it. Calm as she was, I could tell she noticed it with her eyes shifting downwards, noticing the fear and evident motion sickness written all over his face. Maybe if I squinted just a tiny bit harder, I would have captured a blush etched on her cheek. A small one, really. What surprised me most is that she didn't just leave her hand on the bed idly. It looked like she squeezed it just as tightly too. I don't know what it is, but something is definitely going on between those two and maybe someday soon, I'll have the courage to find out. Meanwhile, my brothers and I never ceased to marvel at the very sights and lights before us. Some people may even call these hallucinations, if you will, but to all of us and probably anyone else who'd dare travel upon this bed, they were real. Real as they ever can be. In point of fact, I'd say they looked better than the pictures. I know that we've been hanging onto this travelling spell for less than twenty-four hours but there's something that keeps telling me that we've been doing it forever. Sort of like a tradition. Maybe it was going to be a tradition. Even more so, maybe we were meant to make it a tradition. Who knows how long? I can't really tell. Neither can Miss Price. Maybe for the same reason we don't know when this war will end, but that's another story.

Well, we're almost home..well, home, for the time being. At least it feels like it already. Is that wrong? Please tell me it isn't wrong.

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 _ **Author's Note:** **That's it for the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed seeing an existing and somewhat extended scene from the movie in a different point of view. I have to admit, I had a whole lot of fun writing it and expanding it and I most certainly had the strength to "Carrie" on. Most of her descriptions are conversational and contain less of a structure since I wrote it in a first-person point of view. I plan for this to be a two or three chapter fic, featuring the moment when they first come home and attempt to try the spell (to no avail, having the star disappear) and their actual attempt when they sing the song and say the magic words aloud, of course, with a little touch of extended scenes of my own here and there, just so we'll actually have something original. Thoughts? Opinions? Comments? Please leave me a review! I'm looking forward to hearing from the rest of you readers.**_

 _ **Have a magical day!**_

 _ **~ASianSuccessor2012**_


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